


Puppy love

by morgrug



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Body Swap, M/M, Oneshot, POV First Person, POV Victor Nikiforov, Vicchan is actually Viktor, i don't know what it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29089143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgrug/pseuds/morgrug
Summary: What tags say.Don't ask.-----"Where am I?" I tried to ask, but the only voice that came out of my mouth sounded like a dog's barking. I tried to stand up, but my body didn't comply. I looked down and noticed brown furry paws. That can't be happening! I jumped over the boy's hands and ran around the room. I stopped in front of a window and stared at my reflection in it.I was a puppy. A brown toy poodle.The boy walked up to me and hugged me. "You are so cute, Viktor," he said. "My little Vicchan."
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Vicchan (Yuri!!! on Ice), Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51
Collections: Yuri!!! on Ice Remix Challenge 2021





	Puppy love

I was in the middle of training, performing my routine, midair, jumping a Toe loop, when the world was seized from me. It was as if I slipped out of my body.

"Let's call him Viktor," I heard a kid's voice, as I watched my body move on its own. I didn't have control over it anymore. Thick fog blocked my view, and when it dissipated I was in a totally different place.

There was a Japanese boy crouching in front of me. He looked younger than me, but he was huge.

"Viktor? Like that Russian ice-skater you admire?" a woman asked. I turned my head to see her. She was even bigger!

I didn't understand what was going on. Have I been abducted by a family of giants?

"Where am I?" I tried to ask, but the only voice that came out of my mouth sounded like a dog's barking. I tried to stand up, but my body didn't comply. I looked down and noticed brown furry paws. _That can't be happening!_ I jumped over the boy's hands and ran around the room. I stopped in front of a window and stared at my reflection in it.

I was a puppy. A brown toy poodle.

The boy walked up to me and hugged me. "You are so cute, Viktor," he said. "My little Vicchan."

* * *

At the begining I was horrified. The first few days I kept waking up hoping it was all just a dream and I would wake up in my own body. I thought I had an accident and was now in a coma, dreaming these weird dreams. I tried to find a way to return to my previous life. I prayed to gods of any religions I could think of and I tried meditating. I even considered hurting myself, but the people who owned me now didn't let me out of their sight.

As more and more time passed, I got used to my current situation. I accepted I was to live a life of a dog from now on. I got to know the family I was staying with. Hiroko and Toshiya Katsuki were a married couple. They owned hot springs resort Yu-topia together and they had two children. Their oldest was a daughter named Mari. She was a little rebellious, but she cared deeply about her family. But the person I spent the most time with was the boy who named me, Yuuri Katsuki.

Yuuri loved ice-skating, just like me. He practiced in every moment he could spare. I loved watching him on the ice. He wasn't as good as me, especially at the beginning, but he was very dedicated. He learned all of my routines. I watched him perform them over and over, perfecting them. The longer I watched him, the more I wanted to keep looking. He had a flame burning inside him. I knew he was special and with right guidance he could achieve so much more. Unfortunately there was also his anxiety, blocking him. The more important the performance was, the more he got stressed. And the stress crippled him. He worried about not being good enough.

He told me all about his worries and fears. I wished I could do something to chase them away, but the only thing I could do was lick at his hand or let him burrow his face in my soft fur. He also told me about his hopes and dreams. We watched ice-skaters' performances together and sometimes he explained it to me, as if I wasn't the one who knew more about it. The one ice-skater Yuuri especially admired was Viktor Nikiforov, the old me.

Somehow my body still did very well without me. I wondered who this other Viktor was. At the begining I used to envy him. He could ice-skate and he did so well. His skills developed since I left the body. But he didn't get to see Yuuri Katsuki perform our routines in the Ice Castle in Hasetsu, after the closing hours, by himself, with no-one but me and Yuuko watching. That's when he was the most beautiful. The other Viktor didn't get to play fetch with Yuuri, Yuuri didn't rub his belly and didn't let him fall asleep on his bed. He didn't get Yuuri's hugs and kisses. So I stopped envying him. And I began to think that maybe my life as Viktor Nikiforov the Russian ice-skater was a dream. Maybe I was Vicchan, Yuuri's dog, all along.

* * *

The years were passing and my love for Yuuri grew each day. And so did his ice-skating skills. He competed in international tournaments and he scored some successes. I was very happy for him, but it also meant he was leaving home frequently. And finally he left for good. He moved to Detroit to train under Celestino Cialdini. I understood how important it was for his career, but I was heartbroken anyway.

He videochatted his family and I was able to see his face regularly. He told me he missed me and he loved me. But he wasn't visiting me at all. I missed his touch so much.

Yuuri's family and friends took good care of me, but my life was empty without him. On top of that, I was becoming old and I got ill more and more often. I was worried I might never see him again.

Until one day everything changed again.

* * *

I was standing in a void, facing myself, that is the dog I lived as for the last dozen of years. But I was not the dog anymore. I was back to being Viktor Nikiforov, only a dozen years older.

"How have you been?" the dog asked me.

"Who are you? And who am I?" I replied with more questions.

"You are Viktor Nikiforov. And I am a dog," he answered, but it didn't explain much.

"Am I not a dog then?"

"No. I was able to exchange bodies with you, because a spiritual connection was created between us when the boy named me after you. I'm sorry for stealing your life, but I've lived ten thousand lives as a dog and I wanted to see how it is to be human just once."

"How... is that possible?" I tried to understand what he was telling me.

"I could do that because I am a powerful spirit."

I nodded repeatedly, processing the news.

"Why are you only telling me about it now?"

"Because it's time for us to switch back."

"What?!"

"My lifetime is closing on its end. In order to reincarnate I need to die in my own body. I could kill your body and throw your soul into the nothingness, but I've already harmed you enough. So I'm giving you your body back. Do you want to keep your memories from living as a dog, or would you rather have the memories I made while living your life?"

"Can't I have both?"

The dog shook his head. After being one for so long I could read his expressions easily and I saw he was sorry.

"No. You have to choose. But the body will keep its muscle memory regardless of your choice."

Reason told me I should choose the human memories. I was about to return to the life the spirit abandoned. It would be much easier if I knew what had happened throughout the years. But I didn't want to forget Yuuri.

"I'll keep mine," I decided.

"Very well." The dog nodded. "Thank you for everything and good luck in the future. Treat Makkachin well. We've been friends for 3,759 lifetimes."

"Wait, does that mean that Makkachin is a spirit too?"

"Of course," the dog smirked. "All dogs are."

And with that he disappeared.

* * *

I woke up in a human body, in a bed, in Russia. I was Viktor Nikiforov again. I got up, stretched and examined my body. It had changed a lot since I was last in it. I looked around the room and I saw Makkachin staring at me.

"Your spirit friend is gone. It's me, human Viktor, again," I explained, and the dog nodded knowingly. There was at least one person who understood my current situation then.

When I was exploring the apartment, I found some notes the spirit Viktor left for me. He explained my schedule, made a list of people I should know and marked important locations on a map. I was grateful for that.

I was still processing the revelations. I didn't know if I should be angry at the dog. He did steal my body after all. But I was able to meet Yuuri Katsuki thanks to that.

I wondered if I could meet him again now, as a human. I really wanted to. I checked the schedule and I saw the Grand Prix Finale in Sochi was just a couple days away. I knew Yuuri was going to be there too.

I checked the map and the schedule again and I went to the ice rink. I still had a lot of time until practice, but I wanted to make sure the whole muscle memory thing actually worked. It turned out it did, but when I concentrated too much, I got thrown off-balance. So I needed to practice more.

After about an hour more people came to the rink. I recognized them both from the videos I watched with Yuuri and later with Nishigori triplets, and from the list the spirit left for me. I walked up to the youngest of them, blond boy named Yuri Plisetsky, if I remembered correctly. I chose him, because I liked his name.

"Hey... If I told you I hit my head really hard earlier today and lost all of my memories from the past ten years, would you believe me?" I chatted up.

He gave me a condescending look, taking me off-guard. But later he turned out to be very helpful, despite being rude and abrasive at the same time. Thanks to the little Yuri and my coach Yakov, I was able to adjust to my new life, and when the time for Grand Prix Finale came, I was adapted already.

* * *

As soon as we arrived at the venue, I parted company with the other Russian skaters and set out to look for Yuuri Katsuki. I saw him from across the hall. His expression immediately drew my attention. He looked devastated. I followed his line of sight and I saw a poodle.

I walked up to Yuuri quickly, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to a reclusive corner. I stood in front of him, still holding his hand, searching for words.

"Viktor... Nikiforov?" he squeaked.

"Yuuri... Has your dog...?" I stopped before saying the scary word. Yuuri's eyes were wide open.

"How do you...?" he started, but then he became all chocked up and tears pooled in his eyes. I hugged him closely. He was surprised at first, but when the sobs began to wrack his body, he leaned into me, pulling at my shirt and crying into my chest. I hummed silently and petted his hair like he used to pet mine when I was his dog. I held him until he calmed a little.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye," I heard his muffled voice.

"I know. I'm sorry."

He looked up at me, his face wet with tears. I could see in his eyes that he had a lot of questions, but I didn't know yet how to answer them, so I changed the topic.

"When you go on the rink today, don't stress too much. You are having a hard time now and it's okay to take it easy. Don't think about the audience or the points. Imagine you're back home in Hasetsu, performing in an empty rink with only Vicchan watching you."

He stared at me and blinked. I hesitated a while before placing a soft kiss on top of his head. It shocked him again, but then he lit up in his most beautiful smile.

"Thank you," he whispered. I took out a tissue and dried his face.

"Now we both have to go and prepare, but I'll talk to you again afterwards, okay?" I whispered back.

He nodded and we went our separate ways.

This wasn't Yuuri's best performance for sure, but it wasn't very bad either. He fell twice and he was crying when he finished, but he managed to complete his routine with grace. There was a moment when he closed his eyes and I could swear we were both back in the Ice Castle. For this short while he skated like no-one's opinion mattered and I felt like we were the only people there.

I waited for him at the barriers when he was leaving the rink. He stood in front of me and smiled at me shyly.

"Can I have one more hug?" he asked, wiping a stray tear from his cheek.

I embraced him with all the love and longing I couldn't contain anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I had no idea how to title it; if anyone has better ideas, please share.
> 
> Also I don't know what it was, it just came to me. It manifested itself when I was taking a shower today and I needed to put it on paper. Or on my laptop. Anyway...  
> Bye


End file.
